Joint for toy railroad-tracks.



No. 708,888. Patented Sept. 9, I902.

- H,. 6;. I;VES.--

JOINT FOB: T'BY? RAILROAD TRACKS.

(Application fllad July 93, 1902,,

(No Model.)

- Harry OiIvgs Gwen/"M14 I 'IHE ncmms vzrzns co. FNQTO-LITNO..WASNINGTON, n. c.

' "UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY C. IVES, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, AS SIGNOR TO THE IVESMANUFACTURING CORPORATION, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A

CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

JOINT FOR TOY RAlLROAD-TRACKSJ:

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 708,888, datedSeptember 9', 1902.

Application filed July 23, 1902. Serial No. 116,611. (No model.)

To all whom it may. concern.-

port, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Joints for Toy Railroad-Tracks,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in joints for .toyrailway-tracks upon which may be operated spring or electric actuatedtoy trains, and is more especially applicable toa trackformed of sheetmetal in suitable sections which can be assembled to form a track of anydesired length, including the customary curves, switches, and turnouts,as may be necessary to provide various designs of track.

It is the object of my invention to improve upon sheet-metal tracks ofthe above class by producing a more desirable connection or rail-jointfor detachably uniting the several sections together; further, toprovide a connection which will make the sections interchangeable onewith another and permit their being quickly and firmly united, and,finally, to design it in a way that will allow of the parts beingmanufactured by automatic machinery. These tracks, as will beunderstood, comprise a hollow oval tread portion,-the usual verticalcentral web, and a bottom flange which, like the tread, is slightlyhollow. It is through the medium of this hollow tread and web that Ipreferably secure my connection, which consists of an improved form ofpin, comprising in part the formation ofa wing upon the under side ofthe pin and the swaging ofgthe vertical portion of the rail around andagainst this wing in such a manner as to positively prevent thewithdrawal of the pin from the section lD'WlllCll it is placed. In theproduction of these sections it will be obvious, of course, that eachsection must in itself represent a male and female member having a;connecting-pin upon one end and an .open hollow tread upon the other, soas to permit the sections being joined interchangeably to formindefinite lengths and designs of track.

' With the above objects in view my invention resides and consists inthe novel construction and combination of parts shown upon theaccompanying drawings, forming a within the ends of the rails shown inFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a central Vertical longitudinal section through one rail,showing my improved pin connection in place. Fig. 5 is a crosssection ofthe track, taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 1, illustrating the manner in whichthe stock is swaged down around the wing of the pin to hold the same inplace. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal'cross-section taken on line 6 6 of Fig.

4 and illustrates the way in which the stock is swaged into the pin,fore and aft of the aving, to prevent any lateral movement.

Referring in detail to the reference characters marked upon thedrawings, A indicates the sleepers or ties, which, as will be observed,

like the track, are made of sheet metal stamped up into the desiredform. In practice there may be two orihree of these sleepers to eachsection, according to the length of the latter. These connections aremade up both straight and curved, so as to produce any desired layout oftrack.

B indicates the rails proper, both of which are alike in construction,being formed in two operations of sheet metal, such as tin, bent firstsubstantially central and longitudinally to form a hollow tread C andthe inwardlydefiected flange portions D and next closed together andcompleted, forming the vertical central web E. The two edges of theblank overlap upon the under side of the flange to produce increasedstrength and rigidity. The rails are preferably secured onto thesleepers by having a portion of the latter turned up over the flange ofthe rail and then swaged down firmly by means of automatic machinery.

My connection proper comprises a round pin F, formed of wire, havingsuitable round ends G to insure their free insertion into the hollowtreads G of the rail. One side of the pin is punched or swaged adjacentto one end in a manner to form semicircular-shaped indentations II onopposite sides and to throw out a thin lateralprojecting fin or wing Icentral with the pin. The short end of the pin is thus inserted into oneend of the rail to about one-half its length, leaving an equal amountprojecting for detachable connection with the adjacent section. \Vhenthe pin is inserted in the tread for attachment, this fin is forced inbetween the two parts of the web E of the rail in a manner to slightlyspread the same. The end of the rail containing the pin is next laidunder the press, whose dies descend, engaging the web of the railat apoint opposite to the fin in a manner to swage a small part of each sideof the lower edge of the hollow tread into the recesses H of the pin andto swage one side of the Webin around the fin,forming a semicircularrecess J on said side and a correspondingly-shaped bulge upon the other,thus securely retaining the pin in the rail against both lateral androtary movement.

I am aware that there have been several patents granted upon joints forsheet-metal tracks with pins or tubes for connecting the rails together;also, that one or more of them are provided with means for preventingthe connections being shoved too far in the tread. None of thesepatents, however, contains means for preventing the withdrawal of aconnecting-pin, and it is consequently the essence of this applicationto cover a practical and very desirable method of securing theconnecting-pins into the rail ends of sections of sheet-metal tracks ina way to avoid the defacementof the tread and to positively prevent thewithdrawal and loss of the pins from the sections in which they aresecured.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In a sheet-metal railway-track the combination with a hollow treadand two vertically-disposed web members, of a pin adapted to enter saidhollow tread and provided with a projecting fin or wing to lit inbetween the web members to retain the pin in place.

2. A rail-section formed of sheet metal having a hollow tread and asubstantially hollow web, a pin fitted into the hollow tread of the railand provided with a depending fin extending into the opening of the weband indentations in the web fore and aft of the fin to prevent itswithdrawal.

3. A railway connection comprising a rail having a hollow tread and web,a pin in said hollow tread having a projection to enter the opening ofthe web to prevent the turning of the pin, the stock of the web beingswaged in around the projection to pret'ent the lateral movement of thepin.

4. In a connection for toy-track sections, the combination with a railhaving a hollow tread and Web, of a pin to enter said tread withrecesses on the side and inward projections of the rail to enter saidrecesses of the pin, in a manner to. prevent both the withdrawal andturning of the pin within the rail.

5. A railway-joint consisting of a pin having rounded ends and a finstruck up and projections from one side of the pin, one end of the pinand its fin being adapted to frictionally enter the hollow tread andrail-web.

6. A railway-joint consisting of a pin having rounded ends and a finstruck up and projecting from one side of the pin, one end of the pinbeing adapted to frictionally enter the hollow tread and rail-web, andmeans to engage the fin to prevent its withdrawal from said rail.

7. A railway-joint, comprising a rail having a hollow tread and web, ofa pin to enter said tread bearing indentations on opposite sides and afin to enter the web, projections in the sides of the rail to engageboth the indentations and the fin in a manner to retain the pin againstboth rotary and lateral movement.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fair field and State ofConnecticut, this 16th day of June, A. D. 1902.

1 HARRY C. IVES. Witnesses:

O. M. NEWMAN, HARRIET L. SLAsoN.

